Should Women Do the Same Type of Workouts as Men?
-by Anna Dornier RKC; NASM, CPT
http://www.pathtofatloss.com

Let me start out by defining how men typically train. Most men tend to train their chest and biceps (I call these the mirror-muscles) and then maybe perform a couple of deadlifts and a set of squats. In other words, a typical male workout is usually not well rounded in terms of exercise choices.

Most men who go to the gym come in pairs.

You can usually find them near the weight machines. They watch football games or sports news during their “rest periods” while their buddy is doing his set. They talk for a little bit and then they do a couple more sets. I see this to be a typical male workout because this is what I see in the gym. So, if this is what we’re talking about then, my answer is a big NO.

I’m not saying that this is true for all men.

Times are changing and there’s definitely improvement in how men train especially if you are an avid reader of Rusty’s blog. If there is one lesson that I would take from men’s training, it would be to lift heavy. More importantly, the point is to lift heavy with free weights. Yes ladies, you won’t get big and bulky when you do this. We’re going for the dancer-type look – long, lean, strong, and effortless with all the curves in the right places. Just tune in to any dancing program to have an idea of what I’m talking about here.

The question should be, “should women train like real men?”

In this definition, real men are big, strong, and flexible. They perform more well-rounded routines that target other muscle groups besides the mirror-muscles. Then, my answer would be yes.
Should you do a workout that was originally designed for a real man? 150% Yes! I like the saying, “Lift like a [real] man, feel like a goddess.”

So, how should women train then?

For beginners, I would suggest going for higher repetitions with lighter weights. By light, I mean to have a weight that you can lift for about 15 repetitions and still have a challenging workout or set. It may take a few sets to determine that weight especially if this is your first time training with free weights. Lifting 10 lb dumbbells would be a good start but I suggest that you increase the weight right away if you feel that the weight is too light and you’re not working hard enough.

As you get accustomed to working with free weights and building up your strength…

I would suggest going for lower repetitions with heavier weights. I like to stay in the 5-8 repetition range and perform 3-4 sets of each exercise. When you stay within this rep range, you will find that you will be able to lift heavier and increase your strength without sacrificing form. Moving forward, you will want to increase the weight in each exercise every week so that you are continuously challenging your body and stimulating your muscle fibers to grow.

The goal is to train for strength.

With strength comes muscle-building and with muscles comes a nice, sexy physique that you can be proud of. Think Jessica Biel.
Now we head over to which exercises to perform. Total body exercises will give you more bang for your buck (or in this case time). They are efficient because they recruit a lot of muscle groups in one exercise so you end up burning more calories in one workout in a shorter amount of time.

Most people will see a huge benefit by just doing the basic exercises…

…like squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, and planks or any other core exercises. You would also benefit from back exercises such as rows and lateral pull downs because most women (or just people in general) tend to slouch. So, activating your back muscles will fix that. Last but not the least, get proficient at performing all challenging bodyweight exercises such as pulls ups, chin ups, and all varieties of pushups, etc. This will increase your strength relative to your bodyweight which in my book is the true test of strength.

Have fun and add some variety to your training.

OK, you may have noticed that most of the strength training workouts that I recommend are very regimented with reps and sets but, I also like to have fun and keep things fresh. I do this by playing around with my “cardio” routines.

Like most women, I have been guilty of doing steady state cardio for ridiculous amounts of time at some point in my training.

But, as soon as I learned that HIITs and Tabatas are the way to go, I immediately took advantage of all the choices that I have when I do them. For intervals, you can use all sorts of equipments or modalities such as kettlebells, medicine balls, jump ropes, salsa dancing, pole dancing (you read that right), and even your own bodyweight!

To give you an example here is a kettlebell interval workout that I love to do either at the end of my strength training or on my off days:

• 5 Double Swings
• 5 Double Squats
• 5 Double Cleans
• 5 Double Push Presses

This workout is done ladder style. For instance, after the first set, rest for 30 seconds. Then, perform 4 repetitions of each exercise for the second set, rest for 30 seconds. Perform 3 repetitions for the next set and so on. You can increase the intensity by using heavier kettlebells or reducing your rest time. You can also make this workout longer by starting with 10 repetitions and going down from there.

Take Away

To review, I give you these 5 rules:

• Stick to perfecting the basic exercises
• Lift heavy free weights and lift heavier each week
• Make your cardio intervals fun and challenging
• Focus on training for strength and everything else will fall into place
• Train hard but always, always have fun!

That’s it! If you follow these simple rules, I guarantee that you will become a lean, mean, and strong goddess in no time. Forget about the late night ab equipment informercials and supposedly slimming diet pills. These 5 rules are way superior to any of those products combined and will get you closer to your goal faster than you’ve ever imagined.

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Note: You can visit Anna's blog by going to www.PathtoFatLoss.com.

If you have a bit of spare time make sure and read her post about becoming a certified kettlebell instructor (RKC) with Pavel Tstasouline and his instructors.

It sounds absolutely brutal (torn up hands, coughing up a lung, etc.) My RKC Experience

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My Brief Experience With Forums Made Me to Start This Site

About two and a half years ago I was visiting various forums to discuss getting the lean "GQ" look. I went over to a popular bodybuilding forum and was about to make my post and I noticed a guy who attempted the same thing. He wanted to discuss how to get a physique like Brad Pitt from Fight Club. Big mistake! I think he had over 100 nasty comments and was personally attacked for wanting to be what they called a "skinny wuss" (they used slightly different terminology).

I Couldn't Believe Some of the Stuff I Was Reading…

The comments degraded into homophobic, sexist, and racial slurs. I decided to click away from that site and visit another popular bodybuilding forum, which wasn't as big as this monster site but still had tons of comments. Same thing over here! A guy posted a picture of Christian Bale from American Psycho and along came the attacking comments. I read another 4-5 more threads where guys wanted to get lean and a large portion of the members would go on the attack every time.

& None of These Forums Were Welcoming to Women

The funny thing about these forums is that they repel the average woman almost immediately. Most women don't want to see profile pictures of guys flexing in their parent's basement…this is basically the equivalent of "female repellent". These same guys will claim that they don't need a woman's approval, don't care what women think, yada…yada. Same old story of how guys justify their lack of success with women…after the fact. Pleasing the opposite sex isn't the goal of getting fit, but people shouldn't pretend like they don't care at all.

I Started FBB to Discuss Advanced Tips in a Friendly Way

The irony about both of the two main bodybuilding forums I spoke about was that mixed in with the pollution were some extremely valuable tips and techniques. I decided to start a site that just talked about the advanced stuff, without all the negatives and cutting remarks. I also wanted it to be welcoming to women and beginners, etc. Heck…I didn't even require you to get oiled up and do a "most muscular" pose in your mom's basement! In fact, that disqualifies you from commenting…no flexing of any sort allowed…this is a pose-free zone!

The Number One Thing to Look for In a Fitness Forum

An active moderator is the #1 thing you need to look for in a fitness forum. I can't stress this enough. The reason I don't have a forum on this site, is that I don't have enough time per day to moderate at the level I think would be needed. I believe any cutting or personal attacks should be immediately dealt with and any racist, sexist, or homophobic slurs would get someone permanently banned. It would kill me if I had a site that had that type of content on it!

The Ideal Fitness Forum is Medium-Sized, but Very Active

If a forum gets too big, it becomes impossible to manage…plus it loses it's focus. A medium sized forum is good, because it is easier to build a sense of community. As long as the forum is really active it doesn't matter how big the membership is. Now, if a moderator is exceptionally good at staying on top of things or there are several moderators…then big is fine.

So Before This Post Get's Too Long, Here's the Forum List…

I am going to list a few forums just to get this post rolling. I would love for people to add in their favorite forums in the comment section. Like I mentioned before, many of the best forums are small-to-medium size…so I am sure there are some amazing ones I have never heard of.

Mark's Daily Apple – Primal Forum
Mark Sisson is a guy who simply "gets it right". His blog is outstanding as is his forum. This one is focused on things like the paleo diet, his "Primal Blueprint", etc. It has a strong sense of community and the members help each other.

Body Recomposition
This one gets deep into technical fitness info. If you like getting into the deep science of fitness and want to "geek out" a bit…this is where you go. It is put together by one of my favorite fitness authors, Lyle McDonald.

Strong Lifts
Strong Lifts is a blog dedicated to strength training…so is the forum. It has a lot of topics (10,000+) so I am sure that there are a few negative things mixed in there, but overall the forum is well moderated. The guy behind the site, Mehdi, lives in Belgium was very friendly when I communicated with him over email about a year ago.

Also a Start Up "Hybrid Forum" I Will Be Supporting…

A regular reader and contributor of this site, Rafi Bar-Lev, is starting a forum that looks great. My goal is to help him get this site up to critical mass. He just launched it earlier this week, so there isn't a lot of action (yet). I will go in there once per week or so and mix it up a bit. My guess is that we can get this from the current 24 members up to 200+ in a matter of days.

Passionate Fitness
I am going to chat with Rafi a bit about making links to sites that people want to promote a little easier than most forums. So people can get more readers to their blog, more Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc. This is what will help it reach "critical mass" quickly.

Note: Join Rafi's site and make sure and introduce yourself. Rafi has extremely ambitious goals for this site, and my bet is that he will reach them. Also…comment below and list any other helpful forums. A description of the forum would be cool as well.

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I Can't List Every Fitness Blog That I'm a Fan of…

Within the next few weeks…I'm going to create an exhaustive list of blogs that I read and categorize them in a way that will help you find info on an exact topic. I'll list my favorite women's blogs, my favorite nutition blogs, my favorite muscle building blogs, etc. This post will just feature a few (out of the many) newer blogs I'm a fan of.

What Makes Me a Fan of a Particular Fitness Blog and Fitness Blogger?

A Unique "Angle" or Methodology: I don't want to read a list of facts or just a rehash of common fitness knowledge. My time is limited, so I only spend time on sites that "bring something to the table".

A Visible Personality Behind the Site: One of the first things I do when hitting a blog is go to their "About Me" page. I prefer to see pictures, but a good Bio works as well. I like sites where the author's unique voice and writing style stands out.

Entertainment: I want to learn in an entertaining way. Videos, pictures, and a bit of humor helps. If a site reads like a textbook, then I quickly move on to the next site. I prefer sites with personal stories about actual experiences as well.

Clean Site Design: Too many ads or gizmos make a site hard to read. The content should be easily accessible. Many sites are just overly complicated in my opinion.

Here Are the New Fitness Blogs That I Highly Recommend

Zen to Fitness: Chris uses a simple "zen-like" approach to his posts. He takes complex ideas and breaks them down in an easy to read format. He realizes that people are pressed for time and gets right to the point in posts. The entire site is "water tight" with no fluff.

Gym Junkies: This is a blog tied to a workout "How to" site. It has a bunch of great how-to videos, solid posts, and it is obviously organized content (you will see what I mean when you hit the blog). Vic and Justin have done a wonderful job with this site!

Go Healthy Go Fit: Andrew is the hardest working fitness blogger on the internet. He posts AT LEAST once per day and picks great topics. What I like about his posts is that he reads a lot of the same blogs that I do and expands upon the ideas presented by those sites. I can quickly find out what is happening in the fitness blog world by visiting his site.

I Will Feature 3 More In a Month or Two…

I didn't want to make a list of the dozen+ new blogs I'm reading (that is just information overload). I wanted to recommend 3 unique blogs that I really enjoy. You will get a lot out of these sites and they are posting great content like crazy. They are unique from each other and different than this site.

I Will Get a Unique Post Out Soon

Sorry I haven't been posting as much…I have been busier than normal this Holiday season at work. I can't wait to get back to giving out tips to help you guys shape up from the Holidays (if you let yourself go that is).

Note: If you like any of these sites, then subscribe to their RSS feed. It is as simple as entering your e-mail address. The number of subscribers a blog has is one measure of how popular a blog is. My subscription box is in the upper right hand corner…hint hint

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